Thoughts about following Jesus

Each one of us has an ongoing narrative playing in our minds which we use to evaluate our place in this world. Our experiences, or at least our interpretation of our experiences, are what make up this narrative. Because our interpretation of our experiences is always correct, means our narrative is not accurate.

Listening to this narrative leads us to believe things about ourselves that aren't true. For example, somewhere during my teen years I put into this narrative that real men eat a lot. This meant that one way for me to prove I was a man was to eat more than anyone else. One of the results of this false narrative has been a continual struggle with my weight.

In this recent blog post Donald Miller explains another way we allow this false narrative to shape what we believe about ourselves.

Recently I spoke at a conference and didn’t feel good about my presentation. I’d say I hit a single. I don’t like hitting anything less than a home run. And if I hit anything under a double, I feel terrible for days.

I knew I hadn’t done well. I chose the wrong talk for the wrong audience. It was a group of accountants and I talked about narrative strategy in marketing. Quite a dopey move. Regardless, though, people were kind enough and said they enjoyed it but I knew I could have done better.

When I left the conference, two gentlemen boarded my plane and walked by my seat. One leaned over to the other and said “I’m glad I don’t have to sit next to him.”